Halil Turgut Özal/WP
| birth_place = Malatya, Turkey | death_date = | death_place = Ankara, Turkey | spouse = Ayhan İnal (m. 1952, div. 1952) Semra Özal (m. 1954) | party = ANAP | alma_mater = Istanbul Technical University | religion = Islam | signature = Turgut Özal Signature.svg }} Halil Turgut Özal ( ; October 13, 1927 – April 17, 1993) was a Turkish electrical engineer, a high level civil servant and politician, who was Prime Minister of Turkey from 1983 to 1989 and President of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. As Prime Minister, he transformed the economy of Turkey by paving the way for the privatization of many state enterprises. Early life and career Turgut Özal was born in Malatya and was also of partial (25%- in an interview he had stated that his grandmother was of Kurdish origin) Kurdish descent. He completed elementary school in Silifke, middle school in Mardin, and high school in Kayseri. Özal studied electrical engineering at Istanbul Technical University, graduating in 1950. Between 1950-1952, he worked in the State Electrical Power Planning Administration and continued his studies in the United States on electrical energy and engineering management between 1952-1953. After his return to Turkey, he worked in the same organization again on electrification projects until 1958. Özal was in the State Planning Department in 1959, and in the Planning Coordination Department in 1960. After his military service in 1961, he worked at several state organizations in leading positions and lectured at ODTÜ (Middle East Technical University). The World Bank employed him between 1971-1973 . Then, he was chairman of some private Turkish companies until 1979. Back to the state service, he was undersecretary to the Prime minister Süleyman Demirel until the military coup on September 12, 1980. Political career The military rulers under Kenan Evren appointed him state minister and deputy prime minister in charge of economic affairs until July 1982. Motherland Party era On May 20, 1983 he founded the Motherland Party ( ) and became its leader. His party won the elections and he formed the government to become the 19th Prime minister on December 13, 1983. In 1987 he again became prime minister after winning elections.http://www.basbakan.org/turgut_ozal.html Assassination attempt On June 18, 1988 he survived an assassination attempt during the party congress. One bullet wounded his finger while another bullet missed his head. The assassin, Kartal Demirağ, was captured and sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment but pardoned by Özal in 1992. Demirağ was allegedly a Counter-Guerrilla, contracted by its hawkish leader, General Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu. Two months later, Yirmibeşoğlu became the secretary general of the National Security Council. During Yirmibeşoğlu's tenure as secretary general, Özal heard about the allegations of Yirmibeşoğlu's role in the affair and forced him into retirement. In late 2008, Demirağ was retried by the Ankara 11th Heavy Penal Court and sentenced to twenty years in prison. Presidency era On 9 November 1989, Özal became the eighth president of Turkey elected by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the first president to be born in the Republic of Turkey rather than the Ottoman Empire. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Özal made an effort to create alliances with the Turkic countries of Central Asia as well as Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus. He provided moral, economic, and military support to the latter during the Nagorno-Karabakh War threatening to invade Armenia. Özal supported the coalition against Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. In February 1991, he was made an honorary Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), Australia's highest civilian honour, "for eminent service to Turkish/Australian relations".It's an Honour: AC Death On 17 April 1993, Özal died of a suspicious heart attack in office, leading some to suspect an assassination. His wife Semra Ozal claimed he was poisoned by lemonade and she questioned the lack of an autopsy; allegedly a requirement in such circumstances. The blood samples taken to determine his cause of death were lost or disposed of. Özal sought to create a Turkic union, and had obtained the commitment of several presidents. His wife Semra alleged that the perpetrator might have wanted to foil the plan. Hundreds of thousands of people attended his burial ceremonies in Istanbul, whereby he was buried with a state ceremony next to the mausoleum of Adnan Menderes, whom he had revered. On the fourteenth anniversary of his death, thousands of commemorators gathered in Ankara. Family With his wife Semra, Özal had two sons, and a daughter. One of their sons, Ahmet Özal, was elected to parliament after the elections of 1999, but stayed out after the elections of 2002. References Eski WP versiyonu aşağıda yanlış ve fazla olan kısımlar çıkarılmalı ]] Özal has been criticized by some , who have asserted that this shift from state-dominated to privatized economy came at the expense of the old Turkish middle class. This criticism has been answered by others who emphasize that Özal had tried to expand the middle class so as to integrate the more traditional popular rural base previously excluded from the markets. His presidential tenure is often perceived as having "brought capitalism to the country". Özal supported the coalition against Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. Background Turgut Özal was born in Malatya and was of partial Kurdish descent. He completed elementary school in Silifke (Mersin), middle school in Mardin, and high school in Kayseri. Özal studied electrical engineering at Istanbul Technical University, graduating in 1950. Career Early Between 1950-1952, he worked in the State Electrical Power Planning Administration and continued his studies in the United States on electrical energy and engineering management between 1952-1953. After his return to Turkey, he worked in the same organization again on electrification projects until 1958. Özal was in the State Planning Department in 1959, and in the Planning Coordination Department in 1960. After his military service in 1961, he worked at several state organizations in leading positions and lectured at ODTÜ (Middle East Technical University). The World Bank employed him between 1971-1973 . Then, he was chairman of some private Turkish companies until 1979. Back to the state service, he was undersecretary to the Prime minister Süleyman Demirel until the military coup on September 12, 1980. The military rulers under Kenan Evren appointed him state minister and deputy prime minister in charge of economic affairs until July 1982. Motherland Party era On May 20, 1983 he founded the Motherland Party ( ) and became its leader. His party won the elections and he formed the government to become the 19th Prime minister on December 13, 1983. In 1987 he was reelected. On June 18, 1988 he survived an assassination attempt during the party congress. One bullet wounded his finger while another bullet missed his head. The assassin, Kartal Demirağ, was captured and sentenced to life in prison but pardoned by Özal in 1992. Demirağ was allegedly a Counter-Guerrilla, contracted by its hawkish leader, general Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu. Two months later, Yirmibeşoğlu became the secretary general of the National Security Council. During Yirmibeşoğlu's tenure as secretary general, Özal heard about the allegations of Yirmibeşoğlu's role in the affair and forced him into retirement. In late 2008, Demirağ was retried by the Ankara 11th Heavy Penal Court and sentenced to twenty years in prison. Zafer25 (talk) 21:25, 16 January 2010 (UTC) (Vandal Watcher, Kansas Bear; can we disscuss this? MSN? SKYPE? E-MAIL? PHONE? Are you obsessed with my father or Özal? You've got to give me a chance to prove the facts...) Allegations against General Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu are totally false and have never been proven. He was first Chief of Staff, then Chief of the Turkish Special Forces (a specialised armed forces unit, established throughout NATO, specifically against the Soviet threat during the cold war and also against country specific threats to Turkey, from its neighbouring countries, specialised in training locals in case of an invasion, arming them only when an invasion occurs, using guerilla tactics to harass the enemy and force them to retreat,) between 1971-1974 and successfully commanded the special forces activities in Northern Cyprus in the eve and initial stages of the Turkish Piece Operations in July and August 1974, aimed at stopping atrocities and genocides committed by the Cypriots and Greeks, against Turkish Cypriots and Turks living in the island. In the '70's, there was great social and political turmoil in Turkey; unsuccessfull coalition governments, one after another; unending strikes, together with leftist and rightist university students' protests which eventually turned into violent armed conflicts resulting in many deaths and injuries from both sides, including those from security forces. Turkish people could no longer go about their normal daily activities without fear from finding themselves in the middle of violent protests, gunfire or exploding bombs. No one dared go out after 17:00 into the streets. During this period, General Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu held various posts as; Chief of Intelligence, AFSOUTH-NATO, Naples, Italy, 1976-1978; Commander, 9th Division, 1978-1980, Sarıkamış; Chief of Logistics, Army Command, 1980-1982, Ankara; Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Defense, 1982, Ankara; 4th Corps and Martial Law Commander, 1983, Ankara. As Martial Law Commander, the Mamak Military Detention and Penitentiary was also under his command. Upon his untimely and undeserved early retirement in 1990, by Özal, a renowned Turkish journalist, Yavuz Donat, wrote the following, in his column "Vitrin", daily newspaper MILLIYET, (August 25th, 1990)(IN TURKISH): "In the aftermath of September 12th (the military intervention of September 12th, 1980,) Sabri Pasha was the Martial Law Commander in Ankara. He used to tell me, 'People detained in Mamak are humans. I have to provide them with decent and humanly living conditions.' He was respectfull to both the detainees and their families...He is now retired. Goodbye Sabri Pasha. We will not forget you." His next post was, Chief of Operations, Turkish General Staff, 1984-1986, Ankara; followed by his promotion and appointment as Commander, 3rd Army, 1986-1988, Erzincan. For the majority of this post's readers who may not be familiar with the Turkish geography, Erzincan is approximately 1000 kilometers east of Ankara, where the assisanition attempt against Özal took place. These are years when telephone communication is still quite inadequate in this country, facsimile are not yet widely spread and telex is still the fastest method of communication. General Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu's next and final post was General Secretary, National Security Council, 1988-1990, Ankara. After which he was untimely and quite undeservedly forced into early-retirement by Özal. In one of his latest and recently rarer interviews, by columnist Donat, in his column "Vitrin," he is asked, "Pasha could this unit have acted illegally and made assasination plans against state officials..?" General Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu replies, "Impossible... These allegations can't be true... This is execution without trial... This unit reports to the Deputy Chief of Staff. He in return reports directly to the Chief of Staff. If this unit has committed any crimes, have we all overlooked them? If we have, let's all be held accountable" daily newspaper SABAH, Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu...the Legend, Yavuz Donat, (December 30th, 2009,) Page 25, (IN TURKISH) The mission of the Special Forces is unmistakebly defined in its foundation basis; organisation of counter-guerilla resistance against invading, then-communist, forces or other hostile enemies. What's happened in Turkey during the late 70's, early 80's and still continuing, is that ungrounded rumours have been circulating among the neo-hawk media, such as "Aktüel," "Nokta" and the like, as well as among the so-called "intellectual" columnists, such as "Can Dündar," associating the Special Forces with acts of unknown perpetrators of various murders and crimes, not necessarily with malintentions, but rather with lack of knowledge or disinformation. These biased and sensational allegations must have brought unthoughtfull prestige and financial benefits to their authors, as well as to their respective publishers, since they have gotten away, so far, with such false allegations and have stubbornly refused to publish legal disclaimers by the offended, in spite of all legal efforts. Hence, the associaton of such crimes with the Special Forces Command and its legendary commander, General Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu. (TO BE CONTINUED: IT WILL BE EXPLAINED WHY ÖZAL WAS AFRAID OF GENERAL SABRI YIRMIBEŞOĞLU, AND WHY HE WAS UNTIMELY AND UNDESERVEDLY RETIRED, DUE TO ÖZAL'S CERTAIN PERSONAL AMBITIONS FOR OBTAINING MORE VOTES FROM THE TURKISH CONSERVATIVE, RELIGIOUS AND KURDISH CIRCLES; BRINGING THE U.S. "PRESIDENCY" SYSTEM TO TURKEY, THEREBY GUARANTEEING TO RULE THE NATION FOR YET ANOTHER TERM; HIS TOLERANCE TOWARDS RELIGIOUS EXTREMISTS; AND HIS APPROACH TO KURDISH NATIONALISM. WHY ÖZAL WAS WEARY OF GENERAL SABRI YIRMIBEŞOĞLU'S BEING THE SOLE CANDIDATE FOR HIS NEXT POSTS AS, ARMY COMMANDER, FOLLOWED BY CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF; REGARDED BY ÖZAL AS "BEING IN A POSITION TO HINDER" ÖZAL FROM ACHIEVING ABOVE MENTIONED AMBITIONS; MOST OF WHICH WERE AGAINST NATIONAL INTERESTS.) In his memoires, My Military and Political Memoires, Volume I, (April 1999,) Volume II, (November 1999), Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu, KASTAŞ PUBLISHING HOUSE, the general writes about his life, career and experiences untill October 1999, covering all incidents and most allegations mentioned above. The memoirs will be translated into English in the near future. Presidency era On 9 November 1989, Özal became the eighth president of Turkey elected by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Özal made an effort to create alliances with the Turkic countries of Central Asia as well as Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus. He provided moral, economic, and military support to the latter during the Nagorno-Karabakh War threatening to invade Armenia. In February 1991, he was made an honorary Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), Australia's highest civilian honour, "for eminent service to Turkish/Australian relations".It's an Honour: AC Death On 17 April 1993, Özal died of a suspicious heart attack in office, leading some to suspect an assassination. His wife Semra Ozal claimed he was poisoned by lemonade and she questioned the lack of an autopsy; allegedly a requirement in such circumstances. The blood samples taken to determine his cause of death were lost or disposed of. Özal sought to create a Turkic union, and had obtained the commitment of several presidents. His wife Semra alleged that the perpetrator might have wanted to foil the plan. Hundreds of thousands of people attended his burial ceremonies in Istanbul, whereby he was buried with a state ceremony next to the mausoleum of Adnan Menderes, whom he had revered. On the fourteenth anniversary of his death, thousands of commemorators gathered in Ankara. Family With his wife Semra, Özal had two sons, and a daughter. One of their sons, Ahmet Özal, was elected to parliament after the elections of 1999, but stayed out after the elections of 2002. References Category:1927 births Category:People from Malatya Category:1993 deaths Category:Istanbul Technical University alumni Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Presidents of Turkey Category:Prime Ministers of Turkey Category:Deputy Prime Ministers of Turkey Category:Leaders of political parties in Turkey Category:Turkish people of Kurdish descent Category:Attempted assassination survivors Turgut Category:Companions of the Order of Australia Category:Motherland Party (Turkey) politicians Category:Turkish electrical engineers Category:Turkish civil servants